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| Overall Rating: |
 |
| Recommended Age Group: |
3 years + |
| Country of Manufacture: |
China |
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Description: |
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The Marvel Avenger Legends 14 Baron Zemo is a single figure in a series of Avenger figures released by Marvel. This particular set of the Legends figures come with a single action figure and a piece of another larger action figure. If your child collects all of the action figures in this set (there are 6 all together) they will also have all of the pieces to the larger action figure. The larger action figure called “Mojo” is a green blob of a character with mechanical legs and is comprised of the six individual pieces collected from individual Legends figures.
Each of the individual Legends action figures also comes with an accessory (for Baron Zemo it is a scepter) and a full size comic book. Each figure is also packaged in those really irritating plastic casings which are impossible to open but this irritating packaging also keeps the figure safely inside whether it is only for the journey home from the toystore or whether it is for a collectors edition of the figure, the packaging is sturdy enough to maintain the figure in mint condition.
The comic book that is enclosed with each figure is a full size, full length, color comic book and reads just like any normal comic book would but also serves as a collectors item. These figures are namely a collectors item and are suitable for any collector or an older child around the age of seven and up who likes action figure play they are not recommended for children under three; however, I would not personally recommend them for a child under seven. |
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Review: |
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I spent my childhood playing with mostly boys toys, He-man and G.I Joe figures to be exact but the Marvel Legends figures really don’t live up to the action figures of my day. These figures have a collectors value for older children but I really don’t feel that these figures are something to recommend for younger children or children who want to actually play with their toys.
The Avenger figures are made of quality materials and they do have multiple bends which enable them to be posed in various poses which are both plusses; however, the point still stands that other than being something nice to look at they are nothing more than collectors items. Children may find they are able to imagine play with the characters but the play is stunted by the inability of this figure to stand without falling over as well as the inability of this figure to clutch his accessory. The type of frustration that these shortcomings bring really take away from the play value as well as add to the stress of being a parent by causeing screaming frustrated children.
The Avengers Figures collection also comes with a single piece of one larger figure as stated above. This particular figure comes with the head portion of “Mojo”, a larger figure which resembles a green version of Jabba the Hut with mechanical spider legs and quite obvious drooping breasts which are a definite cause for concern. Although I am certain that this figure is male in origin it does not take away from the fact that this figure has prominent breasts which are definitely going to cause questions.
Overall unless this figure is for a hardcore action figure collector who has little need for constructive play this toy is going to cause more frustration than it is worth and the money would be better spent on another action figure who can at least stand on it’s own two feet without falling over. |
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Breakdown Toy Rating: |
| Fun Factor: |
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| Ease of Assembly: |
No Assembly Required |
| Price: |
$8.99
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| Packaging: |
Sealed plastic shell
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| Packaging Opening: |
Hard to open, you need scissors to cut open the plastic. |
| Noise Factor: |
No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child |
| Launch Factor: |
Extremely easy to launch and hard enough to hurt if hit; may also cause damage to walls and furniture. |
| Frustration Factor: |
There is not too much to this toy; however, the figure does not stand correctly, he falls down constantly and his hand does not close enough to maintain a grip on the scepter.
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| Durability: |
Sturdy and well made, the only disadvantage is the potential loss of smaller pieces
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| Educational: |
None |
| Where I found it: |
Toys R Us
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| Overall Rating: |
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| Recommended Age Group: |
6 years + |
| Country of Manufacture: |
USA |
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Description: |
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The K’Nex toys are akin to Lego playsets; only the shapes of individual pieces differ greatly; however, the concept is similar. The K’Nex 4X Racer set comes in a plastic tire shaped packaging which is reusable to store the individual K’Nex pieces. The reuseable plastic tire container comes covered with a cardboard sleeve featuring a picture of the final model of the racer.
The K’Nex 4X Racers come in four different colors, red, yellow, purple and green and each of the colors creates a different type of race car. Most pieces included in each set are the same types of pieces; however, since each set is created to build specifically one vehicle there will be more or less of certain pieces in each set. The 4X Racer sets are small vehicles that are abel to move after being constructed; however, this particular set does not come with any machinery to enable it to move on it’s own, it does have to be pushed along the floor. If all four sets are purchased then the individual 4X Racers can be combined to create one “monster truck” by using all four sets of pieces. Individually, though, each vehicle fits approximately within an adult female’s palm.
The K’Nex toys teach children about the mechanics of things by teaching them how wheels and cogs and axles etc fit together to create machinery which results in movement and although the 4X Racers do not move alone by the use of machinery they do teach children how things fit together and result in movement.
K’Nex company creates an extremely wide range of toys from roller coaster sets to Lincoln logs but all of their toys are designed to help your child grow in the areas of developing cause and effect skills as well as learning how things function. Some of the more expensive K’Nex playsets come with fully functioning motor kits which enable your child to build items such as Ferris Wheel’s which run via a motor and turn of their own accord. The wide range in K’Nex products and the range in skill level that accompany all of their toys make them a prime candidate for any child above six years old. |
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Review: |
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I grew up as a Lego child myself; however when my twin brothers came along they introduced our household to the concept of K’Nex building sets. At first glace and within the first day of playing with K’Nex as a child I was irritated, I was a Lego girl and darn it I didn’t want to play with K’Nex…however I found myself getting dragged back in to the world of K’Nex no matter how hard I tried to be a “Lego girl”. The thing that irritated me the most as a child, and to be honest still irritates me slightly about the K’Nex playsets is that the pieces don’t always snap together the way you want them to when you want them to. The difference between Lego and K’Nex is that Lego is made of square blocks that just pop together with no effort at all; however the K’Nex pieces, because they are oddly shaped, don’t always pop right together and sometimes they take a little more manipulation to get pieces to do exactly what you want. So what was it that kept dragging me back to K’Nex as a child, and what is it that drew me in to reviewing teh K’Nex playsets now? The shear durability of the playsets.
The durability of K’Nex playsets is amazing, when your child plays with K’Nex sets they are not limited to square buildings and square horse stables and square…everything like they are with Lego blocks. K’Nex come in a variety of pieces which enable your child to build pretty much anything the imagination allows for. Even with the 4X Racer set that I purchased I was able to create other items from my imagination with the individual pieces.
The 4X Racer set is not, by any means the best K’Nex playset I have ever seen but for the price it offers all of the imaginative play and adventure that K’Nex offers with all of their sets. If I had the budget I would more than likely purchase one of the roller coaster sets that are significantly larger than the palm sized 4X Racer; however, the budget did not allow for a larger playset or one which was motorized so I chose to review a smaller, more affordable set instead. Although the set is small it allows for imaginative play and as a plus it also allows for the addition of other K’Nex playsets much like Lego and Mega Blocks do. A collection of K’Nex that begins with a 4X Racer can grow in to a thousand block set by gradually adding smaller sets over time.
The only drawbacks I have with the K’Nex 4X Racer set besides the slight frustration in getting pieces to snap the way you would like, is the fact that certain pieces do not stand up well to rough play; for example the axle (rod) pieces tend to bend after significant playtime. Pieces are also easily lost which can be a cause for frustration especially if your child only has a small set like the 4X Racer set where no extra pieces are provided, once one piece is lost the ability to build the racer on the packaging is also lost. To solve this problem I highly recommend you purchase an extra set – for the price it really isn’t too much to add on another race car which can also serve as backup pieces once pieces begin getting lost.
Overall I highly recommend any of the K’Nex playsets. If your budget allows I recommend the motorized or at least the larger playsets before I would purchase the smaller sets; however if the budget does not allow a child will still be more than enchanted with a smaller playset like the K’Nex 4X Racer. |
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Breakdown Toy Rating: |
| Fun Factor: |
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| Ease of Assembly: |
Easy |
| Price: |
$3.99
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| Packaging: |
A plastic reusable tire with a cardboard sleeve |
| Packaging Opening: |
Easy. |
| Noise Factor: |
No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child |
| Launch Factor: |
Extremely easy to launch and hard enough to hurt if hit with the packaging but not the individual pieces; no real potential to damage furniture or walls. |
| Frustration Factor: |
May prove frustrating for children when the pieces don’t clip together the way they want them to.
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| Durability: |
Pieces are waterproof and pretty sturdy; however, they may bend and snap over time and pieces are easily lost.
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| Educational: |
Motor Skill Development and Coordination
Cognitive Development
Following Directions |
| Where I found it: |
KBToys.com |
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| Overall Rating: |
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| Recommended Age Group: |
3 years + |
| Country of Manufacture: |
China |
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Description: |
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To be perfectly honest Jakks Pacific is a completely new company to me, I have never even heard of them prior to my review of the Pokemon Pikachu Attack Action Bases toy. It seems they specialize in action figures, a new version of building blocks called “Gorilla Blocks,” scientific discovery toys, vehicle models, sports products, artistic products, stationary, TV games and dog toys. A strange variation of products to say the least. It seems from sifting through the variety of products that Jakks Pacific produces they are a hit or miss company when it comes to product development. There are a few products such as the funnoodle (yes that foam noodle you use in swimming pools), Creepy Crawlers, and Eyeclops which are widely known and have been on the market for years; however, there are also products which you have only ever seen before on TV infomercials at 3am. The very fact that they don’t seem to be a hugely reknowned company mixed with the “hit or miss” nature of so many of their toys makes me think twice before looking to purchase any of their products in the future…it could just be my personal opinion though so use your personal discretion in purchasing from this company.
Aside from the company the toy genre which I chose to review from them (action figures) seem to feature very well known characters such as WWE wrestling figures, Dragon Ball Z figures, Rocky figures and Pokemon figures. Being that they gained such toy contracts I do not suppose that they can be such a “bad” company, but still I find myself sucked in to the “it was on an infomercial” panic when I look at some of their toys (in particular BloPens). The action figures seem to be constructed well and appeal directly to the “boy” market in particular by featuring characters from wrestling and anime cartoons (that is not to say it would not appeal to girls only that they seem to appeal more to boys.) The figures are painted in to lifelike figures that manuever as one would expect them to, nothing special, yet nothing to complain about as far as the actual action figures go.
The Pokemon Pikachu Attack Action Bases came in the usual bubble type packaging with the cardboard backing and contained an “attack base” (a stand that shoots the Pokemon character off it), a Pokemon figure ( in this case Pikachu) and two pieces of “track” which slot on to the attack base. The track and the figure themselves seem sturdy enough; however, the “electric” base is not electric at all and is more of a flimsy windup type mechanism. The Pokemon character is true to the character itself and provides enjoyment for a child who likes the Pokemon characters; however in a nutshell the toy is overpriced and does not perform up to standard. |
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Review: |
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I really didn’t think that Pokemon were still popular among children anymore until I took a walk down the “boys action figure” aisle at Toys R Us and saw half an aisle dedicated to the little critters (incidentally, Power Rangers are also still popular, who’d have thought it!). I wasn’t going to pick up this toy to begin with until I saw a boy of around seven standing and just staring at the toys so I grabbed one, I needed to see what was so enthralling about this toy…and now that I have it I can quite honestly say that it must have been a character recognition thing because no way was it from first hand knowledge of what this toy can do.
To begin with, the toy was $9.99, a reasonable price for a collectors figure that actually does what it is supposed to do; however this “action base” figure most certainly did not do what it was supposed to…in fact it did nothing short of sit there and look pretty. The toy itself slots together and is supposed to “launch” the Pokemon figure off the base by use of what I can only describe as a “clockwork” mechanism (ie. not electronic and more like gears and rubber bands.) Clockwork does not make this toy worth ten hard earned dollars. Upon “launch” (hitting the button after placing the figure on the “base”) the Pokemon figure skids a very short way and drops off the table. In actuality the toy is supposed to “launch” off the base to “attack” another figure. The only thing this toy is attacking is the carpet as it careens off the table and on to the floor.
The “attack bases” figures are supposed to be collected, there were four varieties at Toys R Us, each featuring a different Pokemon character. When used correctly two characters bases are slotted together opposite each other and the characters are launched at each other; however, I definitely do not see this happening as they both go rolling on to the floor. The rolling on to the floor is the fun part though because guaranteed at least four out of every five times the launching mechanism will fail and your Pikachu just sits on the “attack base” or simply drops over to one side much the same as grandma would on Christmas eve after one too many glasses of eggnog.
To keep it short…a little late for that but all the same…this toy is absolutely not worth the money, it is flimsy, malfunctioning and something akin to what you would find in the Dollar Store. The only plus for this toy is the character recognition and even then you can find Pokemon figures for less than the $9.99 you would pay for this pile of junk. |
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Breakdown Toy Rating: |
| Fun Factor: |
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| Ease of Assembly: |
Easy |
| Price: |
$9.99
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| Packaging: |
A cardboard backing with a plastic bubble attached. |
| Packaging Opening: |
Easy. |
| Noise Factor: |
No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child |
| Launch Factor: |
Extremely easy to launch and hard enough to hurt if hit with the figure; may also be likely to damage furniture or walls. |
| Frustration Factor: |
The “launching” mechanism only works on this toy about one out of every five tries.
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| Durability: |
May prove to be a durable toy; however, I don’t find this as relavant for a toy which does not particularly work as described.
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| Educational: |
Cause and effect |
| Where I found it: |
Toys R Us |
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| Overall Rating: |
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| Recommended Age Group: |
7 years + |
| Country of Manufacture: |
China |
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Description: |
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Action Products is a smaller toy company that specializes in learning/educational toys for children. All of the toys produced by Action Products are considered to be interactive and make for great “arts and crafts” time with children. Being that the toys are all crafts type toys and require adult supervision most of the time they are not, however, recommended for younger children although there are some kits such as the woodkits that can be contructed by 6 yr olds instead of the recommended age of 7 yrs. The woodkits come in a variety of dinosaurs including: triceratops, apatosaurus, mammoth. brachiosaurus, pteranodon, tyrannosaurus and stegosaurus. A variety of wildlife including: mountain gorilla, mountain lion, spider monkey, red fox, alligator, grizzly bear, gray wolf, bison, and bald eagle. A variety of insects including: butterfly, mosquito, scorpion, praying mantis, and tarantula. A single sealife model of a sea turtle. And finally a variety of vehicles including: space shuttle, locomotive, F-15 Eagle and a WWII submarine. Action Products also produces other toys such as Curiousity Kits, I Dig Kits, Space Voyagers, JayJay the Jet Plane Adventure Kits, Play and Store Kits, Kidz Workshop Kits, and Action Classics toys which can be found at museums, aquariums, theme parks and zoos.
The woodkits are wooden kits that come with precut pieces that when put together form a skeletal figure of whichever animal or dinosaur that you purchased. The wooden pieces are flat packed and held in to thin wooden boards but are easily punched out. Once the pieces are all laid out they are pieced together easily and come together to create a rather large 3-D scale model of the animal you picked. The models not only teach kids about skeletal features but also about the animal they chose since they are able to observe how the animal is structured as well as the random factoids that come printed on the packaging.
The woodkits are easily put together but are recommended for supervised play, at least for younger children because pieces can have splintered edges at times and also snap when forced too hard (as young children are apt to do.) The assembled size of the final Tyrannosaurus product is 13 inches high and the final product can also be painted as desired which makes the models more personalizable. These models retail for approximately $3.99 and can be found at various toy stores. I purchased mine from KBToys however being that most KB Toys are currently going out of business you can also find them at Amazon or directly through Action Products website. |
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Review: |
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I will begin this weeks review by saying that I absolutely adore educational toys, specifically ones that prompt learning and discovery even once the initial project is finished which is exactly what the Action Products Woodkits do. Give a child a toy and they will play and be imaginative and creative, but give a child a hands on product and they will do all of those things but they will also ask questions and search for more outside discovery. What I mean by this is, when we look at the woodkit toys, we see that children are encouraged to build and be crafty but they are also forced to look at the anatomy of the Tyrannosaurus Rex which prompts questions such as “how big was he really?” which consequently leads to research. These are my favorite types of toys.
Although the woodkit itself looks to be a little flimsy when it’s opened the pieces are actually more sturdy than you would think. While the pieces do have the potential for being snapped by rough play and frustrated fingers they are not as likely to snap and break as they seem just from looking at them. The pieces pop out from the wooden sheet easily and fit together with the numbered diagram just as easily. While I don’t recommend the toy for younger age groups than it is actually recommended for, I do notice that this is something that could be completed by a younger child with parental help.
Something else I found to be surprising about the woodkits is that besides being durable they are also pretty large. I didn’t particularly pay attention to the “size when finished” factor when I bought the kit because honestly it just intrigued me. The Tyrannosaurus kit turns out to be 13 inches tall when complete which is considerably larger than I would have estimated when looking at the pieces and packaging. Another huge plus with this product is that it is totally customizable, if you have a daughter whose favorite color is pink she is free to paint her tyrannosaurus pink! Or if your son loves zebra stripes he can paint his with zebra stripes!
There are really no drawbacks to this toy, it is educational, crafty, creative, customizable and it creates time to bond with your child. While some people may find the need to supervise play “irritating”, I do not. I find supervised arts and crafts time to be particularly important when it comes to bonding and having fun together. I say go for the Action Products woodkits, for under $5 you really couldn’t ask for more. |
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Breakdown Toy Rating: |
| Fun Factor: |
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| Ease of Assembly: |
Slightly challenging |
| Price: |
$3.99
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| Packaging: |
A cardboard envelope holding the wooden sheets with pieces attached. |
| Packaging Opening: |
Easy. |
| Noise Factor: |
No potential for noise other than the imagination of your child |
| Launch Factor: |
Extremely easy to launch and perhaps hard enough to hurt if hit with a piece; however, not as likely to damage furniture or walls. |
| Frustration Factor: |
Can be frustrating for younger children or children who aren’t as patient with craft activities. Pieces may stick or be difficult to piece together.
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| Durability: |
Surprisingly durable, still not perfect for play or use by younger children. Durable as a model and a “showpiece”.
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| Educational: |
Motor Skill Development and Coordination
Cognitive Development
Sensory Stimulation
Following Directions
Animal/Dinosaur education
Skeletal anatomy education |
| Where I found it: |
KBToys.com |
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| Overall Rating: |
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| Recommended Age Group: |
3 years + |
| Country of Manufacture: |
Canada and China |
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Description: |
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Mega Bloks building blocks are a building block much like Lego; however, they are targetted more towards younger children with their larger appearance. The building blocks come in small starter sets or larger packs all for very reasonable prices; an 80 piece set will run $9.99 and a 200 piece set will run $29.99. Each set usually comes with some sort of storage, for example the 200 piece set comes in a re-usable duffle bag and the 80-piece flat pack that I purchased came with a reusable tupperware tub. The blocks also come in a variety of colors depending on the set you purchase, the original colors of the Mega Bloks blocks are yellow, red, green and blue; however, if you purchase the Princess sets they will come with pink, baby blue and white blocks and the Dora playset comes with orange, blue, red, yellow and green blocks and so on.
Mega Bloks has expanded their building blocks market to compete with other companies such as Lego by employing a technique that we’ve seen before with Play-Doh, they teamed up with popular children’s characters such as Dora the Explorer, Disney’s Car’s and Disney’s Princesses etc. The great thing about Mega Bloks teaming up with so many characters is that a parent can find any child at least one set of blocks that appeals to them and being that they’re all Mega Bloks blocks all of the sets are compatible and easily built upon with other sets and extension packs. Another fact about Mega Bloks that very few people know is that Mega Bloks building blocks are compatible with Lego blocks of the same size! |
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Review: |
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Mega Bloks building block sets were an easy pick for me because as a “Lego child” I have always been intrigued by building toys and being that Mega Bloks are so affordable it seemed like a no brainer. The blocks came in a very cool re-usable tupperware type tub (minus the sealable lid, the lid does close but not with the type of seal you find on tupperware) which was a plus for me, I love toys that come with packaging that make keeping the house clean and toys off the floor easier.
The Mega-Bloks flat pack with 80 pieces is an exclusive toy to ToysRUs (just the flat pack version, you can purchase other versions at almost all other toystores) and only cost me $9.99 for an 80 piece set. The affordability of all Mega Bloks toys blows me away but specifically the building blocks because they are toys that you can continue to build upon over time and not be afraid of the toy going out of style or being discontinued (they have been in stock in stores since the mid 80’s).
There are very few negative things that I can say about the Mega Bloks building blocks because between the price and the durability as well as the creativity that they induce there is very little to choose from when it comes to negative points on the blocks. I do; however, find that the flat pack is a little deceiving. When it’s advertised that there are 80 pieces in the box you expect to find more than you actually do when you open the tub. In actuality 80 building blocks really is not that many and although it may serve as a great starting point for younger children I cannot recommend this as a complete set, it is great, though, for a starter set and the tub that it comes in can fit at least 80 more blocks so provides a good storage unit for at least two packs of blocks (when the collection gets too large I recommend rubbermaid tubs from Walmart or Target, they are cheap, durable and securely sealed shut.)
The second negative thing I have to say about the Mega Bloks building blocks flat pack set is a comment on building blocks of this nature in general, as is the third gripe I have as well. The noise factor of the blocks is amazingly irritating on a quiet Sunday morning as children rake through the blocks to find the piece they are searching for, much as they are when the tub of blocks itself is shaken up and down (see the video when I turn the box upside down.) The thing with the noise factor on this toy though is that the noise can be limited to short bursts if the blocks are spread out amply to begin with, or one can simply learn to live with the noise of blocks much as my parents were forced to do when I was a child (after all “quiet play” is somewhat of an oxymoron.) The final gripe I have with the building blocks is that they are very easily thrown; however this is simply the nature of such a toy and cannot be changed although I do not recommend purchasing this toy for a child who makes a habit of throwing their toys around the house.
Overall I have way more pro’s than con’s when it comes to the Mega Bloks building blocks, they are a creative outlet for children which encourage social interaction and play while being durable as well as compatible with many other play sets which can be found at reasonable prices at almost any toy store. |
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Breakdown Toy Rating: |
| Fun Factor: |
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| Ease of Assembly: |
No Assembly Required |
| Price: |
$9.99
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| Packaging: |
A cardboard sleeve taped around a plastic re-usable tub. |
| Packaging Opening: |
Easy. |
| Noise Factor: |
The blocks can be extremely noisy inside the tub and when knocked together during play or being sorted through. |
| Launch Factor: |
Extremely easy to launch and hard enough to hurt if hit with one; however not as likely to damage furniture or walls but the potential still exists. |
| Frustration Factor: |
Can be frustrating when pieces get stuck together and won’t separate.
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| Durability: |
Extremely durable and waterproof.
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| Educational: |
Motor Skill Development and Coordination
Cognitive Development
Sensory Stimulation
Matching / sorting |
| Where I found it: |
ToysRUs |
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